RAM choice help

handyandy24

handyandy24

handyandy24

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Joined
5 Nov 2014
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200
Hi all

Im hoping you can help me decide on a RAM kit for my build. Im upgrading from an i5 4560 ddr3 build. This is my first rebuild since building that pc, might be useful context that i dont like to rebuild frequently. Jse case is gaming, in particular VR

Ive decided on

Ryzen 5600x
B550 gaming edge wifi ATX

What RAM kits would you recommend, my budget is less than £100 as the mobo is a bit pricier than id have liked.

Couple of questions

I watched a gamer nexus video (completely confused me) that suggeted having 4 sticks could be better than 2 in somes games (8% fos boost). Have i understood that right? That gives me a potential upgrade path (Buy 16gb now and another 16gb later)

Ive seen some sticks advertised as ryzen optimized, is this just a marketing gimmik?

Speed wise ive seen suggested 3200 is the sweet spot for price performance, agree?

Are there sticks that come at 3200 out the box or do they all require to be played with in bios settings?

Thanks in advance
 
3600mhz is the ideal speed although you don't lose much by dropping to 3200 and nothing stopping you from buying 3200 if it's cheaper and then overclocking it yourself.

Running 4 sticks is harder on the IMC than 2 sticks although it will perform marginally better but this is generally only when gaming at 1080p in a CPU bound scenario

If I was buying a kit for under £100 this is what I'd go for, it's micron E die so overclocks really well and even at stock XMP has good timings. Samsung B-die is the best ram but costs more and outside of benchmarks won't really make a noticeable difference.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £83.69 (includes shipping: £8.70)


If you do want to spend a bit more on B-die then this is by far the best for the price although you will need to manually configure and drop the speed as ryzen won't run 4400mhz at 1-1-1 ratio.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £118.69 (includes shipping: £8.70)
​
 
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Joxeon said:
3600mhz is the ideal speed although you don't lose much by dropping to 3200 and nothing stopping you from buying 3200 if it's cheaper and then overclocking it yourself.

Running 4 sticks is harder on the IMC than 2 sticks although it will perform marginally better but this is generally only when gaming at 1080p in a CPU bound scenario

If I was buying a kit for under £100 this is what I'd go for, it's micron E die so overclocks really well and even at stock XMP has good timings. Samsung B-die is the best ram but costs more and outside of benchmarks won't really make a noticeable difference.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £83.69 (includes shipping: £8.70)


If you do want to spend a bit more on B-die then this is by far the best for the price although you will need to manually configure and drop the speed as ryzen won't run 4400mhz at 1-1-1 ratio.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £118.69 (includes shipping: £8.70)
​
Click to expand...

@handyandy24

The Vipers will not work on that motherboard, been there done that, so don't waste your time with them. The Crucial I have never tested them but they are not on the QVL too.


Also check the QVL and make sure any RAM you buy is on there with that board or you will have a lot of problems. https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/MPG-B550-GAMING-EDGE-WIFI#support-mem-21 .


Vengeance LPX Black 16GB (2x8GB) 3600 MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4 Memory Dual Kit £79.99

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...zen-tuned-ddr4-memory-dual-kit-my-4bw-cs.html

^... CMK16GX4M2Z3600C18 on the QVL and will 100% work with zero headaches at XMP 3600Mhz on that board.
 
I've never bothered buying ram from the QVL and it's always worked fine, maybe the vipers didn't work for you since you were trying to run them at XMP? As generally B-die works well with ryzen.
 
Joxeon said:
I've never bothered buying ram from the QVL and it's always worked fine, maybe the vipers didn't work for you since you were trying to run them at XMP? As generally B-die works well with ryzen.
Click to expand...

Google is your friend if you search the viper ram and X570 and B550 ;). You will see the huge list of issues. Also yes I never normally purchased from a QVL too and that's how I landed in the mess I did with none QVL ram on AM4. Intel in past I never had these issues ever aslong as I purchased ram that was in spec, but new intel platforms can have ram issues too when you get unlucky with none QVL ram.

Also you will see previous people I helped with this same issue before too on these very forums and when they followed my advice they had a working system. Unless you have purchased them and used them in many boards as I have, you will know they don't like AMD 5000 or 3000 series cpus on x570 or B550 and MSI boards are very fussy.
 
Purgatory said:
@handyandy24

The Vipers will not work on that motherboard, been there done that, so don't waste your time with them. The Crucial I have never tested them but they are not on the QVL too.


Also check the QVL and make sure any RAM you buy is on there with that board or you will have a lot of problems. https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/MPG-B550-GAMING-EDGE-WIFI#support-mem-21 .


Vengeance LPX Black 16GB (2x8GB) 3600 MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4 Memory Dual Kit £79.99

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...zen-tuned-ddr4-memory-dual-kit-my-4bw-cs.html

^... CMK16GX4M2Z3600C18 on the QVL and will 100% work with zero headaches at XMP 3600Mhz on that board.
Click to expand...

Looking at my intended mobo msi b55p gaming edge wifi. It looks like it goes to 3200mhz and if i want higher i.e. the 3600 that would be in a xmp oc mode (taken from their site)
Does that mean plugging the memory in you propose will default to 3200, is the process simple to get it running higher?
 
Quartz said:
Not sticks but ranks. Two sticks of dual-ranked RAM.
Click to expand...
Think I remember that vid. Steve used 4 sticks of RAM against 2 Sticks(4x8 vs 2x8). 4 sticks were 8-10% faster. 2 sticks of dual rank Ram will be same as 4 sticks single rank Ram(I'm guessing), but you def get benefit running 4 sticks single rank over 2 sticks single. Upside of 2 sticks is you get better stability(hence 2 sticks dual rank best of both worlds, but cost a factor then).

...just had a quick recap of vid..this was also dependent on having Ryzen 5000 cpu on board also

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UkGu6A-6sQ&t=1317s&ab_channel=GamersNexus
 
Purgatory said:
The Vipers will not work on that motherboard, been there done that, so don't waste your time with them. The Crucial I have never tested them but they are not on the QVL too.
Click to expand...
QVL has nothing to do with that not working.
4400MHz is simply far past normal memory bus speed with Ryzens needing all kinds of manual tweaking to get even remotely there.
And similarly running at normally achievable speeds like 3600MHz needs manual settings, because those lack XMP "fire and forget" profile for that speed.


Purgatory said:
^... CMK16GX4M2Z3600C18 on the QVL and will 100% work with zero headaches at XMP 3600Mhz on that board.
Click to expand...
Actually no guarantee that Corsair won't change used chips depending on availability or prices.
Just like Crucial has changed 2x16GB kits from original dual rank to single rank.
 
handyandy24 said:
Looking at my intended mobo msi b55p gaming edge wifi. It looks like it goes to 3200mhz and if i want higher i.e. the 3600 that would be in a xmp oc mode (taken from their site)
Click to expand...
3600MHz is as 100% surely working with Zen3 as can be and has no higher price.
Only 3200MHz worth of considering would be CL14 kits with binned Samsung B-die for manual memory overclocking.
But price of those is very high.
 
Craig_d1 said:
Think I remember that vid. Steve used 4 sticks of RAM against 2 Sticks(4x8 vs 2x8). 4 sticks were 8-10% faster. 2 sticks of dual rank Ram will be same as 4 sticks single rank Ram(I'm guessing), but you def get benefit running 4 sticks single rank over 2 sticks single. Upside of 2 sticks is you get better stability(hence 2 sticks dual rank best of both worlds, but cost a factor then).

...just had a quick recap of vid..this was also dependent on having Ryzen 5000 cpu on board also

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UkGu6A-6sQ&t=1317s&ab_channel=GamersNexus
Click to expand...
Don't forget those gains only apply if you game at 1080P with a high end GPU like a 3080, in that situation your probably better spending the extra on a higher res monitor unless your into competitive fps @1080p/240hz etc.
 
Generally speaking, 3600 seems to be most recommended.
I have 2 sticks now with a view to adding another 2 the same later, but I've been told 2 is better than 4. IDK if true - hopefully someone more knowledgeable can answer that one
 
BigStevieTT said:
Generally speaking, 3600 seems to be most recommended.
I have 2 sticks now with a view to adding another 2 the same later, but I've been told 2 is better than 4. IDK if true - hopefully someone more knowledgeable can answer that one
Click to expand...
2 sticks are generally a bit easier to run but that's not to say 4 would be an issue.

Which motherboard / CPU do you have?
 
Joxeon said:
Don't forget those gains only apply if you game at 1080P with a high end GPU like a 3080, in that situation your probably better spending the extra on a higher res monitor unless your into competitive fps @1080p/240hz etc.
Click to expand...
True, the 100% price premium for dual rank not worth it for me. He also said at end 2*16 outperformed the 4*8(which outperformed the 2*8)...so by my limited duduction, those looking for 2*8 Ram dual rank samsung b die should buy 2*16 single rank...you'll get better performance, have an extra 16gb spare ram sloshing about your system and be able to spring for some RGb with the spare cash(if you so choose as we all know rgb add a few fps to your gaming;):cry:), or go to the pub and toast your own brilliance:)
Using 8 pack teamgroup edition 3600C14 2*8 samsung b die for £218.99 vs 2*16 Crucial Ballistix 3600C16 for £169.99 for price comparison(£188.99 for rgb variant)
 
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/team...3600mhz-dual-channel-kit-black-my-001-8p.html

Team group 8pack ripped edition RAM serves me well. Bascially the same as Team Group T-Force Xtreem ARGB, DDR4-3600, CL14-16 GB Dual Kit 14-15-15-15-38 1.455v but far cheaper. link removed just incase, 8-pack ram is far cheaper. Reports this RAM can overclock very well for some people.

Great a2 memories.
On my apex xi can do 4800c14-13 and 4133 c12-11 no problem.
Click to expand...

Note that your results will be unique and likely will not be as good.
 
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zx128k said:
Team group 8pack ripped edition RAM serves me well. Bascially the same as Team Group T-Force Xtreem ARGB, DDR4-3600, CL14-16 GB Dual Kit 14-15-15-15-38 1.455v but far cheaper. ******* Reports this RAM can overclock very well for some people.
Click to expand...
Remove that link.
Linking/naming OcUK's competitors is forbidden.
 
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